5 Steps to Begin Your Recovery from Burnout
Step 1: Stabilise Your Energy Through Food
Before adding more stimulation (like caffeine), you need to rebuild your energy reserves. The first step is to remove what's draining you and nourish what's depleted.
Foods to Avoid
Caffeine after noon, alcohol, and heavy meals late at night
Ultra-processed foods, refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, gluten, cow’s dairy
Industrial seed oils (sunflower, soybean), fried foods
Pesticide-laden produce (stick to the Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen lists)
Blood sugar disruptors: sweetened drinks, carb-heavy breakfasts, isolated carbs
Foods to Include
Protein-rich breakfasts with healthy fats and fibre
Organic grass-fed meats, liver, bone broth, eggs, oily fish (sardines, salmon)
Fermented foods (sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt) for gut health
Herbs and spices: turmeric + black pepper, ginger, thyme, oregano
Filtered water and electrolytes
Cooked, seasonal, whole foods (limit raw salads; prefer stews and slow-cooked meals)
Step 2: Support Mitochondrial & Nervous System Recovery with Smart Supplements
Burnout impairs your mitochondrial function (your cellular energy engines) and dysregulates the nervous system. Strategic supplementation can gently restore both.
Core Evidence-Based Supplements
CoQ10 (200–300 mg/day) – mitochondrial support, improves stamina
Acetyl-L-Carnitine (500–2000 mg/day) – mental clarity, energy metabolism
Omega-3s (EPA/DHA) – mood, cognition, anti-inflammatory
Magnesium glycinate (200–400 mg/day) – nervous system regulation, sleep
L-glutamine (5g/day) – gut repair and immune support
Beta-glucans (250–500 mg/day) – immune modulation, energy
Probiotics – digestive and mood support
These work synergistically with the right food foundation, not instead of it.
Step 3: Reset Your Circadian Rhythm
When burnout hits, your circadian rhythm—your body's internal clock—often breaks. The result? Morning crashes, brain fog, poor sleep, and hormone imbalances.
Daily Rhythms to Anchor You
Get 5–10 minutes of sunlight within 30 minutes of waking
Delay caffeine for at least 90 minutes after waking
Move your body gently in the morning (walk, yoga, light stretch)
Avoid screens before bed and turn off Wi-Fi (EMF protection)
Practice Yoga Nidra or NSDR (Non-sleep-deep-rest) in the afternoon to restore without napping
These small shifts help your nervous system feel safe, which is essential for deep recovery.
Step 4: Regulate the Nervous System Daily
You cannot "think" your way out of burnout. You need to feel safe again in your body. This means making nervous system regulation a daily non-negotiable.
Top Nervous System Practices
4-7-8 or box breathing to calm the vagus nerve
Cold showers or face splashing to reset your mood and focus
Mindful eating and post-meal walks to regulate digestion and blood sugar
Embodiment practices (somatic movement, intuitive dance, breathwork)
Vagus nerve stimulation: Humming, chanting, singing
These practices signal to your brain: you’re safe, so it can shift out of survival mode. Journalling is especially useful to progressively identify unconscious patterns that might be driving your life in the background
Step 5: Rebuild Your Emotional Resilience, Boundaries & Identity
Burnout recovery isn’t just physical—it’s emotional, mental, even spiritual. Many men and women in high-pressure careers tie their self-worth to productivity. As you rebuild, you need to redefine what success feels like in your body.
Journalling & Self Reflection Practices
Finding your baseline: Start by figuring out which activities you can do on a day-to-day basis without causing a relapse. This will build a strong foundation for recovery.
The miracle question: Why do you want your health back? By establishing very clear and emotionally resonant goals, you will find a strong motivation even in times of relapses
Drainers vs Gainers: Become progressively more aware of the people, activities, routines and behaviours that make you feel more alive or diminish your vitality. What can you do to shift them?
Gratitude practice: Shift your awareness from scarcity to abundance
Final Thoughts
You don’t have to quit your job or escape somewhere tropical to find respite from your fatigue. By committing to engaging with a progressive transformation process, you can evolve into someone more embodied, aligned and deeply energised. Start with food. Layer in supplements. Honour your rhythm. Regulate your nervous system. Rebuild who you are on the other side of burnout.
At Vitalise, we can walk together a path of transformation towards a more energised body, resilient heart and clear mind. If you feel called to explore how the combination of nutrition, herbal medicine and mushrooms, lifestyle coaching and psychological support can help you in resolving chronic fatigue and chronic pain, I’d invite you to sign up to my mailing list to download
The Herbal & Holistic Medicine Guide For Exhausted High Performing Individuals: A comprehensive strategy to relieve symptoms of burnout and chronic fatigue